How precious are your thoughts about me

Psalm 139

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
⁴ You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
⁵ You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
¹² but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

¹⁹ O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
²⁰ They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
²¹ O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
²² Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

This is one of the most amazing psalms there is! There is so much here to get our heads around. God is so interested in each of us. He didn’t make a mistake when He made us. He planned for each of us. He made us complex – it took thought, planning and effort to make each one of us. He didn’t just snap His fingers. He thinks about each one of us – a lot. He is with each one of us at every moment of every day.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! (v17)

We need to believe God when He says these things. To really believe and to live as if it is true. How much do we miss these ideas in the middle of our days! It is so easy to forget all that He has done and is doing and is thinking about each of us.

Lord, help us to remember and believe what You say – that you planned each one of us and have plans for each of us. Thank you that You are with us all through the day.

Written by Therese Manning